I recently celebrated my birthday at Botanic Beer Garden, one of my new favorite bars in the city! I couldn't have asked for a better place to host my party with a group of 30+, including a theme and folks dressed up in costumes. I'm really glad this place popped up within the last few months. Drinks are stellar, the bar menu is creative, and you can tell that lots of thought was put into creating each item.
My favorites are the Pandan-lada, Blueberry Buzz, and Eternal Bloom. I don't know of any other place that makes a cocktail with pandan, so not only is this unique, it actually tastes really good. The pandan flavor is strong and subsequently, you can barely taste the alcohol in it. Similar story with the Blueberry Buzz: I don't care for gin, but the gin taste in this one is so subtle that you can barely taste it. And the Eternal Bloom is a good take on a tiki-style drink with rum and tropical flavors - can't go wrong here. In a way, these drinks are dangerous as you can barely taste the alcohol, so you will keep coming back for more.
While they currently do not serve food, they are in the process of getting permit approval for an onsite food truck. They currently serve $1 tacos on Thursdays though, so do take advantage of this if you happen to be here for Thirsty Thursday. I can attest to the good quality of said tacos. Since they don't yet serve food, you are able to bring in any food of your choice; I am not sure if this will change once the food truck is up and running.
They also have a full coffee bar, so if you need a pick-me-up to make it through the rest of the night or just a coffee-laden cocktail, you can get your caffeine fix here.
Seating is plentiful, with several booths and tables inside and many picnic tables in their outdoor, fan-cooled patio with TV's. Inside they have a variety of board games you can play, and the patio features outdoor games like Jenga and cornhole too.
The bar manager, Santi, is fantastic. On my first visit prior to the party, he gave me a full overview of the bar and his thought process on crafting the menu together. All of the syrups are made from scratch and natural ingredients are used in favor of artificial flavorings. They are also happy to customize and make drinks that aren't on the menu (like a carajillo - I may have had more than one of these across multiple visits). Santi is very pleasant to talk to and was great to work with in planning my event. He even brought in additional bartenders to help manage the crowd the night of the event. One of the bartenders, Elle, was also super cool and vibed with our group.
As mentioned, this is a great place to host a gathering or party of any sort. Order at the bar. You can pay on one tab or have everyone pay separately on their own tabs (I know some places have an issue with this). I wholeheartedly recommend this place for happy hour, a night out with friends, or a celebration. We will definitely be back for all of the above, and will be bringing more friends with us too! read more